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Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Maybe your home is old-school, pre-dating the open-floorplan
craze, so you have a maze of small dedicated rooms as a parlor, dining room,
den, etc. Or perhaps you’re making the most of apartment or duplex living.
Anyway, the challenge this poses is: “How do I make a dining-room setting
that’s truly expansive and inviting when I have limited square footage? I want
more than a counter or dinette, and I’m out of ideas!” Fear not. We at Roberts
have been helping Hampton Roads households like yours pick the perfect dining room furniture since 1960! That
practical experience plus some ideas from the interior-design pros inform our
blog topic today: to make your small dining room the ideal you’re aiming for.

Corners Are Your
Friends

A novel way to carve out a unique dining room space is to
take full advantage of a room’s corner. Place a dining bench along each wall, then add a round or square table.
If you plan to seat still more people, a smartly designed dining chair or two, depending on your space and table size, will
do the job. If you go with the square table, a smaller dining bench or stool
that you can push completely under it is a wise option. Finish off your awesome
new dining decor with some cool accent pieces,
such as reminders of culinary inspirations France and Italy. There’s always the
designer’s standby of a wall mirror,
not for vanity’s sake but because mirrors both create the illusion of extra
space and enhance your room’s light.

Tiny Space? Then Flip
Out!

If your apartment is extremely small so you can’t have a dining table, but you want more than a
counter ledge with bar stools,
interior designers have this fresh take. Remember the Murphy bed or old-time
built-in ironing boards? It’s kind of like that: install a table along one wall
that flips up when not in use. That way you have all the table space you need
plus elegant dining chairs on three sides. Ingenuity for the win!

How About a Booth?

If you have a small rectangular space off one room, that can
be your dining room by turning it into a booth. A narrow dining table and two
benches or banquettes are all you need, plus you can always augment this with a
dining chair to use the end of the table facing out.

Friday, December 7, 2018

Shopping for furniture can be difficult as it is, let alone
when you’re shopping for furniture that someone else will use. When that
someone is your kid or kids, you face the challenge of not only finding functional
and fun furniture, but also something that is safe for your kids to play on. At
Roberts Furniture & Mattress one of the many things that separates us from
our competition is our huge stock of options, which also allows us to offer a
wide variety of choices for kids. But before you go shopping, we thought you
might like to read some tips on what to look for.

Durability

You probably already know, or are about to find out, that
kids will turn your house into a daily amusement park. Furniture will be jumped
on, hung from, eaten on, and so forth, which is why durability is the number
one priority for most families who are shopping for kids’ furniture. In
practice this means you should look for relatively heavy and solid furniture,
preferably made from hardwood that’s been glued, screwed and
corner-blocked.

Fabrics should have a flat weave, because it withstands use
better than lightweight or looped fabrics. There are also plenty of materials
out there that are pretty much stain-proof and easy to take care of, like
vinyl, ultrasuede, denim, twill, velvet, felt and wool.

Storage

With kids comes clutter and an excess of stuff, so look for
furniture like kids’ loft beds that comes with drawers. Also consider
double-tier tables where the lower tier can function as storage, and stock up
on items like storage cubes, shoe cubbies, and toy baskets.

Space

This depends on the size of the house and the rooms, but
most families with kids long for more space. That’s why we recommend
considering options like bunk beds or beds that integrate desks, drawers and
more. Don’t forget to take advantage of extra space lurking under beds and
other furniture.

Safety

Look for features like rounded corners for tables and
countertops to avoid accidents. You could also consider a couch with attached
cushions if you’re not a fan of pillow fights with huge sofa cushions.

For one-on-one advice on finding the ideal kids’ room
furniture for YOUR family, stop by our Yorktown, VA store or any of our other locations.